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Talk:The Constant/@comment-216.176.13.138-20180418050101
Some of the animals are obviously real-life: redbird = cardinals, crows, winterbird = bluejay, gobler=turkey A lot of the oddball animals seem to be based on extinct or obscure animals: Tallbirds seem to be based on moas or elephant birds, beefalo are (possibly) steppe or tibetan bison, pengals seem to some form of extinct auk, koalafants maybe based on dwarf wooly elephants (can't explain the horns though), hounds may be bear wolves, and the Varg, I dunno, it kinda reminds me of a hell pig (an actual extinct animal that was related to pigs but looked more canine)...I almost thought the ancient guardian/s were based on extinct wooly rhinos except it kinda looks like the guardian is bipedal...and of course new creatures appear all the time.which brings me to another point. "Tracks left by food. I mean... an animal." - Wilson The animals we see are just ones that have some relevant use for the character and appear to the player the way they are perceived by the character. Just because we don't see them in the game, doesn't mean they don't exist. The fact that they have suck goofy names suggests that Wilson (and company) didn't know the real names for the critters (how many of you knew what an auk was?). So, Wilson just named them by what they looked like to him. Some of the creatures are either based on mythology or are Lovecraft inspired. There is a very strong Lovecraft them to the whole shadow and nightmare world, the strong use of tentacles, and the atmosphere of cosmic horror. Deerclops, for example seems to be based on the Frost Giants of Norse Mythology, sons of Loki, of which the monster from the film "The Ritual" was based as well. I think this is reinforced by the fact that the Deerclops comes in Winter. Merms kinda remind one of Lovecraft's "Deep Ones", and there is a Shub Niggurath vibe from all the tentacles in the swamps and caverns, and don't even get me started on the Quaken. Or, the other theory, that the Don't Starve world is Wilson's subconscious, and everything and everyone else in it are just things wilson has known throughout his life or read about or even just casually observed (like pictures of extinct animals). It would certainly explain why things get more hostile and fantastic the deeper you go and why the deepest cavern has a "Nightmare Cycle". So, this is my narrative; in the early 1930's there was an aspiring young scientist named Wilson. Wilson was unable to achieve his aspiration. So, he read and read – not just scientific journals, but Ripley's Believe it or Not, natural history journals, and even some off-the-wall writings by people like Crowley and Lovecraft. He once read a very haunting story about a British Magician and his assistant who disappeared during his greatest performance. Wilson was in the beginning phases of schizophrenia, and began having audio hallucinations telling him to perform bizarre experiments which lead to a terrible accident – leaving Wilson in a coma...and the rest is history. I even think the other playable characters are parts of Wilson's subconscious, either people that Wilson has known or at least seen and registered in his subconscious.